


A Shooting Star

by americanhoney913



Series: Catradora [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brief character death, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24643981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanhoney913/pseuds/americanhoney913
Summary: “I think one of those stars is falling.” Swift Wind butts his nose against Adora’s shoulder blade. “Maybe you should make a wish?”
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Catradora [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807921
Comments: 1
Kudos: 94





	A Shooting Star

**Author's Note:**

> For Nae from the Catradora Club. I wasn't given the prompt, but I was inspired to write this.
> 
> Unbetated because it's 8:40am and I have been awake since 6:30pm. All mistakes are mine.

Adora sighs as she stands on the edge of the hill leading down to Brightmoon. Horde Prime’s ship floats above them like one of those satellite things Entrapta’s been babbling about since they discovered new planets, but it's covered in plant life now, a tree of life, a new beginning. The air smells like flowers that have erupted across Etheria, much to Perfuma’s delight. She and Scorpia were already talking about how they were going to bring back the Fright Zone and integrate it into the rest of Etheria.

The blonde stands apart from the crowd. She turns back to where her friends are celebrating. There’s laughter and smiles and a few tears here and there. Glimmer smiles from ear to ear as Bow leads her around the makeshift dance floor, joined by Netossa and Spinerella; Mermista’s trying not to smile as Seahawk tries to dance around her like one of those weird mating birds that live in the Whispering Woods. 

There’s so much happiness around her and she can feel it washing against her skin like the new magic that’s flowing across the surface. She-Ra’s always been in tune with magic and, even though she’s not the Big Lady right now, she’s never felt more connected to her. After her sword broke, she’d lost that connection to She-Ra, who’d become like a second little person in the back of her mind, a small well of magic living within her soul. She and She-Ra might not be around at the same time, or have aligning views one-hundred percent of the time but, without She-Ra, she’d been so lost. No one needed Adora; they only needed She-Ra. But seeing Catra so mindless, unable to control herself, forced to fall on Horde Prime’s whim, her heart falling with the other girl… she had realized that Catra had never needed She-Ra like the Rebellion. All Catra needed, wanted, was Adora. She wanted  _ Adora  _ to take her home. Going after her hadn’t been a question.

Surrounded by Horde Prime’s clones, she knew she and Catra wouldn’t survive. She-Ra was gone, Bow and Glimmer were lost somewhere in the ship with Entrapta. No one was coming to save them. It was just Adora and Catra, as it has always been. And then, at the last moment, Adora clutching Catra to her chest, ready for the final blow, She-Ra flowed back into her. They weren’t giving up. Etheria still needed saving.

So they saved Catra, got off of Horde Prime’s ship, and Adora used She-Ra’s revitalizing energy to heal Catra and bring her back from the brink of death.

And now… now, after everything, she’s standing here, alone. Still connected to She-Ra, but missing the one person in her life that she could be fully herself with. She picks at a scar on her arm, the long scar Catra accidentally gave her before she’d… Adora swallows back her tears. Right before Shadow Weaver pulled up the barrier between the monster protecting the heart and her and Catra, the feline had given Adora the quickest kiss and charged, slid under the closing barrier. The last time she saw Catra was the other girl disappearing as Shadow Weaver unleashed her power in a sacrificial blow.

Catra’s gone. She’d saved Etheria, but at what cost?

“Adora, are you okay?” The blonde looks to the side to find Swift Wind trotting up the hill. He stops beside her and looks out across the once-a-wasteland Fright Zone. He brushes his shoulder against hers and she sighs. She sees Melog lope after Swift Wind, feels them curl up against her legs.

“I’m just… I’m not in the mood to party,” she says with a shrug, leaning down to scratch the creature behind their ear. She eventually settles down and crosses her legs, too weak and sad to hold herself up anymore. “Don’t let me stop you from having fun though.” She knows how much the flying unicorn loves his parties, second only to his love for his fellow horses and their freedom.

He follows “You know, I don’t just sense when you’re in danger when you’re She-Ra.” He blows a breath out and ruffles her hair. “I can feel how upset you are, Adora.” He sits down next to her and she rests against his side. Melog puts their head in her lap, tail whipping back and forth and it reminds her of…

“I just…” A sob gets stuck in her throat and she chokes on it. “I’m sorry. I can’t.” She feels Melog lick her tears away as they settle on her lap. Swift Wind whinnies softly and shakes out his mane. He flicks his orange and pink tail and Adora spits out some of the hair as she tries to tell him to stop.

Adora takes a deep breath and looks up, trying to blink back the tears that Melog hadn’t been able to catch. She wraps her arms around them, burying her fingers in their blue energy mane. It’s soft and there’s a calming energy coming off of the magical creature.

“What are they called?” Swift Wind asks, his horn glowing softly as Etheria’s brightest moon begins to set. Adora remembers seeing other planets that got their light from a bright gas giant, according to Entrapta. There are billions of them in the sky and they shine like little diamonds.

“Starla called them stars. She was one of the siblings we met on our travels. She said they’re like our life-giving moons. The ones that give us light during the day.” Adora takes a deep breath. Melog purrs and it rumbles around in Adora’s chest and it hurts. Catra’s purr felt just like that and she’s not here. She’s gone. All that’s left is a scratch Catra’s claw dragged into her arm as Adora tried to stop her and a tingly ghost of a kiss on her lips. One last flick of her tail and she’d disappeared within the smoke of Shadow Weaver’s death blow to the protector of the Heart.

“Whoa, look!”

Adora’s head shoots up just as one of the stars begins to fall. It leaves a trail of smoke as it arcs across the sky. “It’s beautiful.”

“I think one of those stars is falling.” Swift Wind butts his nose against Adora’s shoulder blade. “Maybe you should make a wish?”

“Why would I wish a star? Entrapta says it’s like the biggest fart balled up and floating in space.”

“Wow, I’m trying to cheer you up and you’re talking about farts.” Swift Wind shakes out his mane and he sounds offended.

Adora hunches her shoulders, frowning. “Sorry, it’s just hard. She’s… she’s really gone.”

“Maybe if you wish on the fart ball hard enough, something will happen?”

“I guess it’s worth a shot.”

She closes her eyes and focuses, slowing her breathing like Perfuma taught her while She-Ra was gone. In and out as calmly as she can. Empty her head of all thoughts. She imagined Catra’s face in her mind. Her blue-yellow eyes, her fangy smile with that one tooth always sitting on her lower lip, the sparkle in her eyes and her tail swishing back and forth just before she’s about to pounce on Adora.

‘ _ If there’s anyone out there, please, I just want Catra back, _ ’ she thinks as hard as she can, her eyebrows furrowing. She repeats her wish-- wanting Catra back by her side-- until she looks up and sees the star no longer falls across the sky.

“It didn’t work,” Adora whines as she leans her head against Swift Wind’s neck. His hair feels soft and she cries and cries and cries. Melog gives her a rumbly meow and gets up. Their tail, thicker than Catra’s, brushes against her before Melog’s gone. She can only sob. Maybe it was stupid to wish on a giant glowing fart ball shooting across the sky. Catra’s gone and she’s not--

“H-hey Ad-dora.”

The blonde scrambles to her feet and spins around, eyes going wide at what she sees.

“CATRA!” The feline’s fur is singed and she’s holding one almost blackened arm to her chest. She’s got cuts dripping with blood from what Adora can see. One of her eyes is swollen shut, that half of her face burned and it reminds her of the Catra beyond the portal. The top of one ear looks like it’s been split in half and her tail’s dragging behind her. Melog yowls and goes to help as Catra starts to wobble.

Adora rushes over and helps Catra, lets herself be a crutch. Catra sags against her, letting out an uneven breath. They don’t say anything until they reach Swift Wind. Catra groans as Adora helps her to the grass. The feline sighs as she leans against the flying unicorn.

“What happened?” Adora breathes. Her heart hurts as she runs her fingers over a patch of fur that’s not burned. There’s tough skin and Catra hisses when she accidentally touches one. “Sorry. Sorry.” She goes to pull her hand away but Catra’s non-charred hand grabs hers and brings it back to that patch of fur. Adora can see that some of her claws are missing, either reduced to stubs or missing entirely.

“I… I don’t know.” Catra’s ears flatten against her skull, the cut on one of them more pronounced. “One minute I was charging to attack that… that thing. And the next I’m burning alive, slamming into the wall.” She coughs and Adora presses her hand to Catra’s chest, feeling it stutter in her lungs. “I managed to crawl out once Shadow Weaver destroyed that monster.”

“I…” Adora choked on a sob, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I thought you were dead.” She shakes her head. “You kiss me and then you sacrifice yourself.” She laughs through another sob and presses Catra’s to her mouth. “That’s my job.”

“Well,” Catra’s voice rattles, rough from burns, “you do that enough.” A tear drips down her cheek. “I had to one-up you just this once.”

Adora shakes her head, watching as Melog licks at one of Catra’s burns. “I’m just glad you’re not dead,” the blonde says as she leans next to Catra against Swift Wind, who doesn’t seem to mind. He’s still looking up at the sky, his mane moving gently in the soft breeze. The feline lets out a shaky breath and gently leans her head against Adora’s shoulder, curling up against her.

The peaceful moment is broken when Swift Wind opens his big mouth and says, “ Well, I guess wishing on giant fart balls isn’t so stupid after all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought. While I'm sure the original prompter wanted Catra to stay dead, I'm better with happy ending than I am with sad ones.


End file.
